Goals

I've been thinking a lot lately about my running goals.  Every run could be considered attaining a small goal.  When I plan to run an event, I find a training plan, put it on my calendar and then do all the runs.  I rarely miss a run or even cut it short.  I view it as a commitment and I tend to honor my commitments.  It can be overwhelming, though, to view the training plan as a whole so I find myself focusing on one run or maybe a week of runs at a time.  I rarely know what the plan holds beyond that because it is enough to focus on.  Therefore, throughout the four month process, I feel like I'm constantly achieving goals and that is a really good, motivating feeling.  

Sometimes, though, it is hard not to think beyond the next race.  Where am I going?  What is the goal for 2011?  What is the 5 year goal?  What is the goal that might not be attainable?  The goal that would really require buckling down and pushing myself to limits?  What would that look like?  Can I make the sacrifices to get there?


With running, it is always a building process.  Very few people can not train and successfully complete a marathon.  It takes weeks (months, really) of planning and slowly building up the mileage.  So, when planning out a multi-year plan, you should start small and build.  I already have two marathons under my belt and I'm currently training for my third.  Theoretically, I have a good base to build on - my body has a good level of endurance and I know I have the psychological fortitude to spend hours training and push my body.  I am lucky to have a spouse who also values running and supports me in my endeavors.  


I'm obviously starting 2011 with the Austin Marathon.  I'm toying with trying to squeeze in another marathon shortly thereafter - maybe Eugene again in May.  But the big event for 2011 will be applying for the McKenzie River 50k!  There's a lottery for only 150 spots so there's certainly no guarantee that I'll get in but I'm already thinking that I should start developing a training plan and getting my mind ready to tackle the distance.  I'm hoping to end the year with the Columbia Gorge Marathon in October which should be a breeze after McKenzie.  But all my goals for 2011 are focusing on distance and increasing my endurance. 


I think that 2012 will be a year that I focus on speed.  I'm not a fast runner which leaves a LOT of room for improvement.  I'm about an hour off of my age 35 BQ time and I have no idea what or how long it could take to shave that hour off.  I have three tiers of goals for Austin and I feel like this will be a good indicator of what I can shave off.  Goal C is 4:30, goal B is 4:20 and goal A is 4:15.  Depending on where I finish, I will fine tune my future race goals.  Hopefully, though, 2012 will be a year where I can start building enough improvements and speed to BQ sometime before 2015 - this is a huge goal and feels very unattainable right now so I'm making it very long term to allow myself plenty of time to build towards it.  It might not ever be possible but I think I'd like to give it a try...  because you never know what you can achieve until you give it a go!!